FARREL O’SHEA
I think you have to separate motivation in terms of work and play, so let’s start with the nasty “work” stuff first – although both may actually be driven from the same place? Work related drive always comes back to the same conundrum – can we improve our product. It never ceases to amaze me at times the shallow job some of the companies we know and love in our industry do product wise. We always look at our competitor’s product hard – yet at our own even harder! We spend many an hour assassinating our own product with the view to try and take it ahead of the rest. As a small player in the global market I know we will never compete marketing wise with the bigger fishes, so I always aim to make a better and higher quality product through more extensive testing – you have to put the benefit of all those years spent arsing about on the water to some good use – right??
Windsurfing is a very frustrating sport, it takes time to hone those tricky skills….however I find those misspent hours very rewarding and therefore it doesn’t take a lot of motivation to keep going! Wave sailing in the 80s was a very progressive time, and it was great to be on the cutting edge during those fast evolving years. However now I’ve been reborn as a pie eating speed sailor the rules of engagement change. No longer are we in the subjective world of wave sailing, with speed the only thing that matters is the time – a much simpler concept to grasp. I’ve never been one to live in the rose tinted glory of the past; the only thing that matters is your last ride! Is enough ever enough? I had a real struggle moment at the 40-knot barrier, which seems almost laughable now, only to revisit that same dark moment in the 49-knot hurdle – completely stuck for a few years. During that contemplative moment I remember talking to Chris Bertish (the Transatlantic SUP man) a person for whom motivation is a speciality. Over a beer he said re: 50 knots “See it, dream it, believe it – do it !!” Perhaps in hindsight I’d had trouble believing it? Is enough ever enough? No – the goal posts just move right in front of your eyes. Forever windsurfing – forever speed ….”
Is enough ever enough? No – the goal posts just move right in front of your eyes.